Wanted: Managed Service Providers as “DPOs”

01 Jun Wanted: Managed Service Providers as “DPOs”

By Tara Newman, Director, International Sales and Marketing, RapidFire Tools

As the volume of data breaches and malicious network attacks continue to rise, SMB business owners have set their sights on recruiting skilled and knowledgeable “Data Protection Officers” to protect their network from these threats. Since “DPO” is a newly-emerging position in the HR lexicon, many qualified candidates are still in the dark regarding its qualifications. What’s worse, the (as-of-yet) ill-defined nature of the position may lead a slew of unqualified candidates to rush to the job, convinced they can handle the demands of disciplines such as risk remediation, cyber security, and network assessment. Yet now that regulations such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is in force, many organizations are opting – or even required— to designate a DPO.

As a managed services provider, this represents an opportunity to establish yourself as a contracted DPO for your clients—if you’re savvy enough to seize the moment. Review the skill list below to see if your experience in networking, security, and managed services makes you a competitive candidate for this expanding opportunity.

Clear Communication

Communication skills will make or break candidates for a Data Protection position. DPOs must collaborative effectively across various departments to build and enhance a proficient compliance infrastructure. The ability to translate complex concepts across teams will be a highly sought-after skill.

Compliance Expertise

MSPs with experience in compliance regulations such as PCI and HIPAA will likely be able to transition into other compliance disciplines such as GDPR, providing an edge compared to in-house applicants. If compliance isn’t already a major offering of your MSP practice, the market offers robust tools to help MSPs quickly build compliance programs across all their clientele. These include Network Detective’s sophisticated line of network assessment tools, including the PCI and HIPAA modules, and RapidFire Tools’ new Audit Guru™ for GDPR tool.

Product, Engineering And Training Acumen

To maintain GDPR compliance, for instance, a company must deploy a specific technical program to meet its requirements. Considerable technical acumen is necessary to develop and execute a technical framework that will satisfy these regulations. Experience in leading employee training and maintaining accurate records for demonstrating compliance will be a considerable differentiator for DPO candidates. An ideal DPO will also have experience managing and mitigating privacy, data protection, and compliance risks—typically the responsibility of the MSP.

Knowledge of Effective Tools

Directing an organization of any size through the complete and accurate compliance process is a daunting endeavor even for a seasoned technology professional. And no MSP becomes an expert overnight. However, the typical MSP can quickly launch a customized and automated Compliance-as-a-Service program for its clientele with the help of effective, affordable tools. Such tools deliver the automation necessary to perform a comprehensive scan of your client’s networks, allowing the you to supplement that data with set of structured worksheets, which are dynamically generated as the tool guides the user through the compliance processes.

An effective compliance assessment solution identifies potential risks and violations, creating all the required reports and supporting documentation to help the end-client maintain compliance. What’s more, when used on an ongoing basis, these tools can be leveraged to create recurring revenue opportunities. As a value-added offering, assessment tools provide a brandable portal built for your business, which stores a record of all the scans and remediation efforts that your clients will need to maintain compliance.

As the unfortunate need for increased data protection continues to escalate, so will opportunities for managed services providers to address those needs. That said, you are quite likely the best qualified candidate to serve as “DPO” for your clientele.